Opinion: The Burden of the Future

Since the collapse of the housing bubble in late 2008, the daily focus of the media has been on the economy. Every major newspaper and television network in the country covers stories concerning how the recession affects local businesses and individual people. It is obvious to anyone who has observed and followed the economic dilemma, that the deficit and economy will only get worse.

What most people don’t take into consideration is the inevitable fact that today’s children and grandchildren will pay for the financial blunders of politicians. While the economic situation points to depression and despair, there is hope for sparing the future generations from this fate.

However, it demands the immediate action of this current generation and from you and me. To ensure the success of this plan, action must be taken now. The results may or may not be seen in our lifetime, but the foundation of our work can be laid down for future generations to build on. There are two possible ways that can be considered to avoid or minimize the insurmountable burden. To prevent or decrease the amount our children will pay, government must cut entitlements and decrease the federal income tax.

The first solution to limiting the ungodly amount is eliminating government entitlements.

From local to federal, entitlements are made to groups, organizations and unions. Entitlements are synonymous to insurance for certain unions and organizations. In its basic form, an entitlement is a government promise to allot a certain percent of government income to individual groups and organizations such as labor unions.

In tough economic times, government entitlements make it nearly impossible to form a viable budget, because a fixed percent must be paid. In California’s case, there is no current budget for the excessive spending because of the numerous entitlements the state has to pay. On a federal level, the passing of the Health Care bill is a prime example of entitlement. The current federal government believes that as a people, we are entitled to “health care.” In opposition, the majority of the American people were strongly opposed to the passing of this bill. As a result, more money will be spent on a program that the majority of the people did not want. In order to form a decent budget, government must cut entitlements. This will allow the state and federal governments to operate in a more flexible manner in solving their economic problems.

The second solution to ease the burden of the future generation is to cut down the federal income tax.

It has been historically proven time and again that when taxes increase consumer-spending decreases. It has also been well documented that when taxes are increased to accommodate government solutions for economic problems people spend less, businesses shrink and government revenue decreases. The stimulus package from 2008 is a prime example of government trying to fix an economic problem by spending money, only to make it worse. While it is proven that government spending hurts a recession economy, it is well documented that when taxes are cut, consumers increase in their spending. Consumer spending increases the growth of businesses, which increases the amount of government revenue. The tax cuts from the Reagan Administration support this fact and the recent income tax cuts from the George W. Bush Administration confirm this as well. In order for the economy to function, there must be a flow of currency. The economy cannot function at optimum capacity when people spend less, especially in a recession. The best way to encourage people to spend more is by cutting their income tax.

Now that President Obama will raise taxes, people are becoming afraid and uncertain of their future, which will only worsen the economy. If we are to hope for an economic recovery and smaller deficit, the government must be willing to cut the federal income tax.

If nothing is done to eliminate or minimize the financial burden, our children will be paying for it. Eliminating the entitlements will enable government to form budgets to curb over spending.

Cutting the federal income taxes will give the people incentive to spend and circulate the American dollar in the economy. There is hope for the future generation to avoid this fate if initiative is taken now. However, it is imperative for this generation to act now and begin to solve the problem.